Senior Content Strategist with over 10 years of experience in digital media and technical writing.
On Mobile & Desktop
Engaging with your audience is the secret to growing a successful channel. One of the fastest ways to do this is by asking your viewers questions.
Key Takeaways (Quick Steps Summary):
Many creators wonder how to create a poll on youtube to talk to their fans. It is very easy and takes just a few clicks. You can do it from your computer or phone.
A YouTube poll is a simple post where you ask a question. You give your viewers different choices to pick from. When a viewer clicks a choice, their vote is counted right away.
If you want to know how to do a poll on youtube using a computer, follow these simple steps. It takes less than a minute.
You can create three types of Community polls: Text polls, Image polls, and GIF polls (currently rolling out). Text polls allow up to five text-based options, while Image and GIF polls allow up to four visual options with short captions.
During a Live Stream, you are limited strictly to text-based polls with up to four options.

Most people use the mobile app to manage their channels. Here is how to post a poll on youtube using your phone.

You can also ask questions while you are live on video. This makes your live chat very exciting for fans.

You must meet a few simple rules to use this feature. Almost all channels can use polls today.
Polls are fun and very fast for viewers to answer. This tells YouTube that people like your channel. High engagement helps push your content toward the level of the most viewed YouTube videos.
To get more votes, keep your words very simple. Good youtube poll questions should be fun and easy to answer. High engagement helps you understand your YouTube RPM by keeping your audience active.
You want as many people to vote as possible. More votes mean more people see your channel. This steady growth can improve your earnings for 100k views over time.
Once you know how do you make a poll on youtube, you need to check the votes. You can see how many people voted and what they chose. If you want to estimate your channel income based on this traffic, use a youtube ad revenue calculator.
Yes, YouTube polls are completely anonymous. You cannot see the names of the people who voted. You only see the total number of votes and the percentage for each choice.
Sometimes we make mistakes when typing. Here are common problems and simple solutions for fixing your polls.
Polls are a fast and easy way to talk to your fans. They boost engagement and help you learn exactly what your audience wants to see next.
Zero. It’s a common misconception that you still need 500 or 1,000 subscribers.
YouTube updated its rules. Today, anyone can access the Community tab and create polls by simply unlocking Advanced Features in their YouTube Studio settings.
No. Viewers must cast their vote first.
Once they click their choice, the poll instantly updates to show the percentage breakdown of all votes cast. This prevents “bandwagon voting” and keeps your data accurate.
Your polls show up in three main places:
Yes, absolutely.
When creating a poll on a desktop or mobile device, click the clock icon (or the drop-down arrow next to “Post”). You can then pick the exact date and time you want your poll to go live.
Community tab polls stay active indefinitely until you manually delete them. People can vote on a poll years after you post it.
However, you now have the option to set an expiration timer (like 24 hours) if you want the post to disappear automatically. Live Stream polls disappear as soon as you end the poll in the chat.
No, not anymore.
YouTube used to have an interactive “Poll Card” feature that popped up during video playback, but they removed it to streamline the viewer experience. You must use the Community tab, Shorts stickers, or Live chat instead.
There is no built-in polling feature for the comment section.
Workaround: You can pin your own comment asking viewers to “Reply with A, B, or C.” Alternatively, pin a comment containing a link that points directly to a poll on your Community tab.
You can find the polling feature in three places:
YouTube recently added a dedicated poll sticker for Shorts.
If you have zero subscribers, you just need to verify your channel to unlock the Community tab.
You don’t have to be the channel owner to run a live poll.